


A Galaxy's Worth

by galaxiesreader



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ben Solo Lives, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, First Kiss, Fix-It, Rey Palpatine, Rey can be a hero and have a boyfriend, Romance, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Fix-It, What If I Wrote TROS But Better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:08:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23192962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxiesreader/pseuds/galaxiesreader
Summary: Ben's ride to the shore in the skimmer with Rey had given him enough time to think things through.His conclusion: he was fucked.---Beginning with the clash between Rey and Ben on the Death Star's ruins, this story diverges from canon for a less depressing ending.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 44
Kudos: 181





	1. Chapter 1

Through a haze of rain and wind, Red fled along the ruins of the ship and Kylo Ren followed.

In the sinking wreckage of the second Death Star, the crumbling edge of a ridge greeted Rey. Below it, a fall that would end with an obstacle of metal protrusions or deadly waves. Either meant certain death. One way or another, this would end here.

There, she waited for him.

Her breaths were heavy, and her limbs heavier still. It had only been hours since she learned of her true heritage, only moments a horrible vision had shown Rey her darkest path. Now it would take everything left in her to fight him.

From the depths of the mist, he emerged.

The waves crashing around them were powerful enough to bury a massive wreck in the sea, but Kylo seemed to be unaffected by their strength. Striding through the breaking wave, he readied his saber for another swing.

Exhausted, Rey braced herself.

In her peripheral view, she saw him send a powerful stroke in her direction. Desperately, she threw out her hand and directed all her energy toward it, stopping his deadly weapon with the Force.

Kylo quickly recovered, and Rey began to strike at him. The blue and red of their sabers clashed together, sending spark sprinkling through the water around them. They continued their engagement, getting faster as each of them ached to end the year-long battle between them.

Rey began an attack that was halted midair. _He stole my trick¸_ she thought. Though she figured that was fair; she herself had picked up a few moves studying his saber technique

Again, they picked up where they’d left off. Each time their sabers collided, Rey became more sure of one thing: she could not go on like this for much longer. Exhaustion was beginning to get the better of her, and every part of her body was crying out in pain. Even the frigid water was beginning to seem bearable if it meant she could rest.

Instead, she managed to steal a moment to merely catch her breath.

He let her recover, halting his swings.

“Let her” may have been generous—from her view, Rey could tell he was just as tired as her. His shoulders sagged with relief when they broke apart, his breaths were uneven and labored, and his dark eyes were dim with weariness. He was plainly tired of fighting; they both were. Through the duration of the war, they had gone from enemies to allies to _this._ This—this _mess—_ it made their struggle unbearable, because every strike hurt them both. In a battle like this, it was not just a matter of who would lose, but what would be lost.

It was tearing them apart.

After a moment’s passing, they continued.

Rey struck out at him again, but he struck back harder, sending her on her knees. Collecting her strength, he prepared to hit back at him, but again he bat her down. Despite her effort, he had gained the upper hand.

One final blow delivered her to the ground, knocking the wind from her. Down her back, Rey felt the cool water seeping into her clothes, weighing her down even further. As she laid against the decaying Death Star, she wondered if this meant defeat.

Wading through the wreckage that his own family wrought, Kylo looked no more victorious than Rey as he raised his arms to strike down upon her.

_Of all the people, of all the places,_ Rey thought, _was this always how everything was always going to end?_ With this man, who she had grown to hate and to love. With this ship, that her grandfather had helped to build, and his grandfather had helped to destroy.

Perhaps they had learned nothing.

Rey closed her eyes. Feebly, she held her saber to the sky as one last effort to defend herself.

_Be with me,_ she thought. It was a last hope, a final message, and—if nothing else—a comfort, in the end.

But the end never came.

She expected the heat of his saber to come slashing through her, but instead she felt nothing but the rain. Then, in a moment that came and left in a second, she felt her saber collide with something, and thud hit her feet.

Ever so slowly, Rey began to open her eyes to let the world back in. To her horror, the sight she found was her saber piercing through the chest of Kylo, who had collapsed onto his knees.

There was shock.

Then, confusion.

Then horror.

_Shock, confusion, then horror—_ over and over and over again, the three continued, in that order, through her mind body as she took in the scene in front of her.

_How had this happened?_ This wasn’t meant to happen; this wasn’t what she wanted.

Frantically, she replayed her actions in her head. Yes—she was sure. Clear as day, with her own eyes, she had watched him lift his saber to strike at her. _So why had it been her saber it that struck him?_

Then, as always, the Force provided an answer to her.

A tremor shook through the energy surrounding them. With all the power and might of a star destroyer, grief rippled through Rey as she felt Leia Organa become one with the Force.

“Leia,” she gasped out. Her saber’s blade collapsed, and its hilt fell from her hands.

_Leia. The general. Their leader. Her friend. Her mentor. His—oh God._

_His mother._

_His family._

The thought of him returned her to the present, where Ben fell against the side of the ship. Clearly, he was in shock and pain at his mother’s passing. A hand clutching his side reminded Rey of her grave mistake, and she recognized that the splotch on his chest was not just a tear in his clothes, but a gaping hole through his body.

Rey became nauseous. She was no medic, but she knew that a wound such as his was not survivable unless—

_Unless…_

She kneeled down beside him, and tentatively laid her hand against his chest. Ignoring the pain that tore through her heart and the exhaustion that tore through her body, Rey used every last bit of her strength to reach out to the Force and inside herself. She directed her life force through her hand and gave herself over to him.

As the wound began to close, Ben realized that it was getting easier to breathe again. She was _healing him_. It was a miracle happening inside his body, because of her.

Rey felt his gaze on her as she drained her life into him. He was shocked at her ability and moved by her selflessness, even in a moment such as this—even after everything he’d done.

When the hole in Ben’s chest was closed and he could finally breathe again, Rey shifted back to face him. But even with fresh air filling his lungs, and a clear head once again, he couldn’t manage to speak.

What could he possibly say to her?

Filled with anger, loss, sorrow, and regret, it was Rey who cut into the silence between them.

“I—I did want to take your hand,” she confessed. “Ben’s hand.”

It was not only a confession, but a declaration. Rey was defining her selfless act in more precise terms—an act of love.

Incredulous, he looked to her, trying to decide if this was real.

Ben couldn’t believe what she’d said to him, but not even the furthest reaches of his imagination would allow him to conceive of a reality so perfect. So, it must have been real, he decided.

He felt renewed.

Rey felt numb.

With a hand laid on his shoulder for support, she pushed herself up onto her feet. After only making it a few wobbly steps away from him, she felt her mind go empty and her body soon followed. In the midst of adrenaline and excitement, she did not realize the toll that the fighting and healing had taken on her body.

It happened too fast for Ben to properly react. His mind seemed to still be lagging in the aftermath so much. To him it seemed that one moment, Rey was next to him, and the next, she was collapsed on the ground. He looked to where she had just been standing and now lay; she had never seemed so small. Her form blended into the panels of the Death Star that were around her, rendering her almost invisible.

If he left her there, she may just drift peacefully into the waves, as if they’d never been there at all. It would be the smart thing to do, really—he wouldn’t be killing her, but he’d have deniability of sparing her.

Or, he could send out their location to the massive fleets he commanded, bringing her back with him. _That might actually end the war,_ he thought _, the Resistance without Leia is at risk, without Rey it may just crumble._

It would have been the safe thing for him to do—he would win the day, if not the entire war.

Instead, one word clouded his judgement: _Ben._

He heard it in his mother’s voice, and in hers. They were the only two people in the galaxy to know enough of him to dare call him by that name, and now two was down to one.

It was a painful bit of irony that in grieving his mother, the only thing that could bring him any semblance of comfort was the thought of his mother’s embrace. Even in the most contentious days of his youth, being in Leia’s arms always felt like coming home. Now, there was no home left for him to go back to without Leia.

With his gaze fixed absently on the water that pooled around him on the ridge, Ben’s eyes wandered to the hilt of his saber that Rey had discarded by him. He strained to reach it and examined it.

Laying in his hands, the weapon brought him back to the last time truly been face to face with any of his family—that fateful night on Starkiller base, with his father.

Leia had always told stories of chiding Han for his recklessness, but that day was the first time he truly understood what she’d meant. He had come to an enemy base, walking through ranks of trained troopers, armed with nothing but his wit and a blaster.

When he’d found him on that catwalk, Kylo thought that he must have been the stupidest person in the galaxy to walk out toward him. But now, he understood. Han had not been oblivious to what his actions may cost him, he just didn’t care—even if the cost was his life. That’s how much he loved his son.

Today was the second time one of Ben’s parents had reached out to him with love and acceptance despite everything he’d done. Even after murdering his father, his mother was ready to embrace him. And even after hurting Rey in the most personal and intimate ways, she didn’t hesitate to give part of herself to save him.

Their acts had given him something far more important than his life: they had given him _hope._

Not a day had gone by in the past year that he had not relived the moment he’d ignited his saber into his father’s chest. For the first time now, Ben was able to imagine a version of that day that had not ended so painfully.

_She’s gone_ , Ben would have told him.

_Your mother’s gone, but what she stood for—what she fought for—that’s not gone,_ his father would have insisted.

Clutched in his hand, his lightsaber had never felt so heavy. On Starkiller Base, he had chosen to ignite its unstable blade. Today, looking between the hilt of the saber, and Rey’s prone figure laying ahead of him, it became clear: he knew what he had to do, but he didn’t know if he had the strength to do it.

The voice of his father echoed through Ben’s mind: _you do._

He had built this saber as a test of his strength and connection to the dark side. With it, he had wrought unspeakable evil. Its volatile crackle and searing red blade were a constant reminder of the weapon’s history and his own. It would be so easy to toss it into Kef Bir’s vast oceans and never have to reckon with his past again. It would be _too_ easy, he decided.

Ben thought of the power Rey had just demonstrated, and how just moments before, he would have thought it to be impossible. In that spirit, he opened himself to the Force, and let the Light inside him.

The Light burst through like the crashing waves that still raged on around him. For so many years he shut it out, thinking the Light made him weak. Surrounded by it now, he could feel that it in fact strengthened him. As he directed the energy flowing through him to the palm of his hand, Ben began to heal the cracked Kyber crystal that powered his light saber. At first, he could not tell if it was working, and then he _felt it._ The Force surged through his body saber, and he felt balance being restored.

To test his work, Ben switched on his saber to reveal a beaming silver blade. Healing the crystal had not only returned it to its natural shape but had purified it.

After latching the saber hilt to his belt, he turned his attention to Rey. Once again, he knew what he had to do.

Still weak from fighting, but carrying the strength of a man reborn, Ben leaned down to Rey and brought her into his arms. He thought back to the first time he’d held her like this, when he brought her back to the First Order to deliver her to Snoke.

Today, he would not make the same mistake.

Though she felt heavy in his drained arms, the weight of her body was nothing to the newly gained lightness he felt all around him. Holding on tightly to that thought and to her, Ben began his long journey to the nearby shore.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even on its best days, the Falcon appeared unfailingly at risk of falling apart at any minute. It seemed that was a requirement to be part of the Solo family.

The relief Ben felt when they finally reached land was short-lived.

Between him and any sign of the Resistance stood a towering hill. With Rey still incapacitated in the skimmer, it meant that the only way she’d be getting to the top of that hill was if he carried her himself. He could wait for her to try to come around, he figured, but that could take hours—and starting today, he didn’t want to waste another second waiting to do the right thing. Of course, time was also not on their side. For all he knew, Rey’s friends could be getting ready to leave the planet at any minute.

Ben's ride to the shore in the skimmer with Rey had given him enough time to think things through. His conclusion: he was fucked.

To set the scene: he would be approaching leaders and soldiers of the Resistance who had last seen him doing battle with Rey—Rey, who would be unconscious in his arms. Unconscious, meaning unable to speak. The one person who could vouch for him, unable to speak.

Hence, he was fucked.

With Rey in his arms, Ben adjusted her in his grip and began up the side of the hill.

The grasses of Kef Bir blew softly in the breeze as he climbed. The wind’s peaceful lull was almost enough to make Ben forget about the wars that had been fought on land like this. After growing used to the constant noise and commotion of the ocean waves, however, the calm in the fields seemed eerie to him, especially in anticipation of what was to come.

By the time he neared the top of the hill, Ben’s arms and legs yearned for rest. Though Rey’s healing had re-energized him, he was still not immune to the limits of human vitality. Still, he carried on, readying himself for the shit show that awaited him on the other side.

Upon finally reaching the peak, Ben was able to see the distinctive outline of a Cornelian YT-1300F light freighter parked in the distance. It looked the same as he always remembered it from childhood—in _terrible_ condition. Even on its best days, the _Falcon_ appeared unfailingly at risk of falling apart at any minute. It seemed that was a requirement to be part of the Solo family.

Though he was a way out from the ship, he must have been close enough to be spotted, because within moments of seeing it, he noticed two figures on Orbaks crossing to meet him. As they got closer, he made out their faces and recognized them as the deserted stormtrooper who now went by Finn, and the insufferable pilot— _Dameron_ , was his name—who had made acquaintance with his mother. Together, they bounded toward him, each armed with blaster rifles.

Overcome with exhaustion and aware of how the situation appeared, Ben let Rey down to the ground in front of him and held his hands up in surrender.

Both of them halted.

“Don’t you _dare_ move!” Poe commanded, and brought his blaster to life, training its barrel right at Ben’s chest in warning.

Finn trotted his Orbak closer, then dismounted. He wasted no time before marching straight to Ben and launching a taut fist into his jaw.

Before Ben had time to recover, another blow struck him from the other side. It was enough to knock him off balance, and he keeled over. Every part of his training urged him to strike back and defend himself, but he knew better than to put up a fight.

Instead, he offered no resistance as Finn grabbed onto his shirt, pulling his entire body toward him. Face to face, they were close enough that he could see Finn’s jaw tense at the sight of him.

Finn angry eyes bore into Ben’s as he cried out, “What did you _DO TO HER?”_

“I swear, this wasn’t my doing,” Ben said with as much calm as he could muster.

Finn released his hold on him, letting him fall back onto the ground.

“Bullshit,” came his unsympathetic reply.

“Trust me,” Ben intoned carefully, “I know how this looks, but—"

“Nice try,” Poe cut in abruptly from behind his weapon. “But considering the relevant history of the past, oh, I don’t know— _forever,_ there’s not gonna be any sort of _trust_ going on here, pal _._ ”

“ _Listen,_ ” Ben said more insistently, “I didn’t hurt her, go see for yourself.” He shifted uncomfortably, unsure of his words. “She exhausted herself to save me,” he admitted. “She _helped_ me, and I want to help you.”

“Ok, we are so not falling for that _shit_ ,” Finn let out automatically.

“Finn, go check on Rey and make sure she’s ok,” Poe ordered. His glare at Ben seemed so fiery it was as if blaster bolts could have come from them. “He won’t try anything. If he _does,_ he knows I’ll blast his ass straight back to the Rafa system.”

Assured that Poe had his back, Finn let his guard down and knelt beside Rey. A hand to her chest allowed him to feel the gentle rise and fall of her breathing. Looking her over, he could see that she was pale—paler than usual—and cold and wet. But from what he could see, there were no obvious injuries otherwise.

“I think—I think she’s ok,” he informed Poe. Finn returned to his feet and looked back to Ben. “You said she saved you,” he said. “Saved you from what?”

Finn’s tone had lightened, but Ben wasn’t sure it would last for long now that he had to try to explain all this. Once again, he thought, _he was fucked._

“It was the heat of battle that got to us both, I think. I cornered her and she ignited her saber and…it all seemed to go by in a flash,” he recalled. “I don’t think she meant to—I don’t think that’s what either of us wanted, but it would’ve killed me if she hadn’t helped me. She used her power to heal me,” he tenderly confessed. “It sounds impossible, I’m sure. I could barely believe my own eyes.”

His last words seem to take him into his own world as he relived that moment. The moment she made him believe that anything was possible.

Ben expected them to lash out at such a suggestion, but the two Resistance soldiers just eyed each other silently after the story. Perhaps today had not been the first time Rey had tried that Jedi trick.

“Well, she seemed pretty hell bent on killing you just about 5 minutes ago from where I was standing,” Poe said, lowering his weapon slightly. “What changed?”

_Did they not know?_

It could not have been long ago now—hardly even an hour—but had no one in the Resistance contacted them?

“My mom—Leia?” He prompted, hoping not to have to finish his own sentence. Regretfully, their expressions remained blank. “She’s gone,” he whispered, his voice low. It was all he could manage without falling apart.

Cautiously, Ben looked between them as they processed what he’d just told them. Poe entire body sunk lower toward the ground, as if strings that had been holding him up had suddenly vanished. But after Finn had taken a moment to think things through, he was in a decidedly different stage of grief: denial.

“That’s it, I’m gonna kill him,” he threw to Poe. Before Poe had time to stop him, Finn stormed over to where Ben still sat.

In the midst of the rousing commotion, Rey’s eyes began to flutter.

“…you _liar,”_ she heard, “the general herself sent us on this mission only hours ago!”

What started as muffled sounds began to grow louder in her ear, and Rey began to make out the voices around her.

_Yelling._

_Finn yelling._

_Finn was yelling. Yelling meant danger._

_Finn could be in danger…_

Regaining awareness, Rey shot up from the ground, pushing herself up as fast as she could manage. Quickly, she got a sense of the chaos that was erupting around her and stepped in.

“What the _hell_ is going on?!” she cried out.

All three of them stopped and turned to look at her in shock. Immediately, Rey regretted letting her consciousness be known to them. Even an hour of voluntary rest for her seemed to end with everything going to shit. Staring back at her, along with Finn and Poe, was—Force help her—Ben Solo.

At the sight of him, the last few minutes of consciousness on the Death Star came back to her.

_Leia had gone, and he almost had too, because of her._

The final moments of her memory were hazy, but they were certainly on the Death Star. And now, they certainly weren’t. Somehow, they’d made it back to shore, which meant she either didn’t remember as much as she thought she did, or…

Finn’s voice broke through her thoughts.

“…going on with some bullshit about how the General died,” he went on, “and the son of a bitch shouldn’t even be allowed to say her name.”

Finn must have started talking to her at some point. She wasn’t sure how long it had gone on or how long he intended to continue, but he showed no signs of stopping.

“Finn,” she said quietly, hoping to get his attention. He continued. “ _Finn,”_ she repeated louder. “He told you the truth. I felt it too.”

Rey placed a gentle hand on his shoulder as she watched him react to this. Finn’s entire demeanor changed to something unfamiliar to her. The usual fight was gone from his eyes, replaced with sorrow and defeat.

A moment of silence stood between the four of them. They didn’t know what to say next. None of them knew it, but they were all thinking the same thing: _I wish Leia were here._ Leia had a way with words—she had a way with everything, really—that made everything ok. Even in war, even in defeat, even in loss, she always assured people that hope would carry them through to another day.

Rey looked between them all and spoke up. “What happened here?”

“Ask him.” Poe gestured pointedly toward Ben.

But Rey didn’t ask him, nor did he provide any answers. Instead, she closed her eyes and reached her hand out toward him. She was focused and straining to find any energy left within herself.

Then, without an invitation but welcome all the same, Rey entered Ben’s head. The last time she had done that, she hadn’t liked what she found. Today, everything was different. In searching through his memories of the day, she saw not only answers about her but about him.

The evidence in his thoughts and feelings only confirmed what Rey already knew—that the person standing before her was not Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader of the First Order, it was Ben Solo. This was not a leader demanding her surrender, but a man offering his help and asking for the same in return.

Ben had come back to the Light.

Rey had held out hope for so long, but some nights she wondered if she loved a man who didn’t truly exist. Now, he was standing in front of her.

She pulled back from his mind and opened her eyes to meet his. His eyes, which were once cold and mysterious to her, were bright with hope and love.

“ _Ben,”_ she whispered dearly. A teary-eyed smile struck her face.

At the mention of his name, Ben’s bruised and bloodied face lit up with a lopsided grin.

 _She knows,_ he thought.

There were not enough words in the galaxy to describe the relief he felt at knowing there was at least one person who would be on his side. He took a shaky step toward her, not fully believing this was real.

When Rey matched him with a step of her own, they took it as permission from each other and rushed forward to close the distance between them. Together, they threw their arms around each other and embraced in a tight hug. As Rey gripped onto the still-soaked fabric of his cape, she felt his thumb stroking her back, and she knew everything would be okay.

From their position, Finn and Poe stood in awed and awkward silence at what was unfolding. “Did-did we miss something?” Poe remarked, but neither Rey nor Ben gave an indication of a response. Poe wasn’t sure if they didn’t hear him or didn’t care, but it was all the same. It was obvious that right now, nothing else mattered to them in this little moment that was entirely, complete, theirs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I posted this chapter earlier than expected, courtesy of social distancing-induced productivity. Enjoy!!  
> ***  
> Good news: I've already written most of this story! I hope to post a chapter every week until it's finished.  
> If you'd like to take the time, I would love to hear your thoughts. :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m…not quite sure where I should start,” Ben murmured, his voice laced with uncertainty.
> 
> “How about the beginning,” offered Poe. Finn sternly nodded in agreement, his lips remaining in a tight line.

The four of them sat together around the holochess table in the _Falcon’s_ interior, but they were not there to play.

Finn and Poe sat next to each other—their usual seats—leaving no room for anything between them. Their collectively hostile frowns were enough to have Ben already fidgeting nervously opposite them. Rey was between the two parties, as always, hanging a bit closer to Ben as a subtle show of support, but close enough to Finn and Poe to get in the way if either of them got jumpy.

“I’m…not quite sure where I should start,” Ben murmured, his voice laced with uncertainty.

“How about the beginning,” offered Poe. Finn sternly nodded in agreement, his lips remaining in a tight line.

In his seat, Ben shifted uncomfortably and sucked in a breath. “Alright…”

“You enslaved me.”

Ben raised a cautious hand up in defense. “That wasn’t exactly my fault,” he said pathetically.

“My life was stolen,” Finn continued insistently, “and if there was a home where people loved me, I never got to know them. I was raised on rations and orders—as a _weapon_ for the First Order,” he said. “Which, last I heard, you were in charge of, _Supreme Leader_.”

At the mention of his title—his _former_ title now, he figured—Ben flinched.

“I—yes,” he conceded. “There’s some amount of accountability there. I understand that. You lost a part of your life I can’t ever give back to you, and for that I am sorry. At least, you should know that I never thought of this as some political crusade for me. It was personal.” Ben looked to Rey. “For me, it was always personal.”

It was partially a defense to alleviate some of his guilt, Rey assumed, but it was also honest. She had been inside his head and seen his memories. Ben had fled to Snoke because of Luke, and he had only risen to the top of the First Order’s ranks because of what he’d done for Rey.

“I do have to admit, it sure felt personal when you _tortured me,_ ” said Poe, with his eyes narrowed.

Ben turned to meet Poe’s rigid stare. “Again, I’m sorry for that. I know I hurt you—all of you. And it could have been worse. Or better; it didn’t have to happen at all.”

He thought back to Starkiller Base once again, where he had interrogated Rey with her darkest secrets and deepest desires. Where his light saber strike across Finn’s back had left him wounded, and another timeline might have seen an even worse fate. Where he had indeed tortured Poe with the sort of pain that was better left to the imagination.

Ben chose his words more carefully now than ever. “I don’t expect you to forget the mistakes I’ve made—I know I won’t—and I’m not going to pretend I have all the answers for this,” he said. “But I know that I want to be better. I have never been so sure of anything in my life.”

He said those last words with pride. It was the pride of a man who had spent so long in turmoil of finding the right path for himself, having finally discovered it with as much certainty allowed. Despite Ben’s instincts—the remnants of Snoke’s voice echoing through his head telling him to bury his emotions—he let a tear fall.

Rey, Finn, and Poe all watched as it rolled down his cheek and hit the table. All of them felt the air in the room change. His words could not undo his mistakes, or even make up for them. Not even close. But they were enough, at the very least, to convince them all of his sincerity.

 _Damnit,_ Poe thought _, he’s getting to me._

Poe knew that no matter how he felt, or how much he wanted to temporarily give into his anger, he had to let hope win.

It’s what Leia would have wanted.

Finn knew it too.

And so, after sharing a look and exchanging a nod, they were clear in their agreement: they could work with this.

Getting up to move toward the cockpit and start the _Falcon_ , Poe stopped next to Ben. He laid a hand on Ben’s shoulder, attracting his attention with a firm grip. “First things first—if you going to tag along with us, you have _got_ to lose that cape.” Poe gave an approving pat as he turned to leave, not sparing a glance backward.

Ben smiled gently to himself at such an appropriate welcome. The cape was not exactly practical during wartime, he had to admit. Though he didn’t notice, his smile was shared by Finn and Rey as they welcomed a new member into their growing misfit family.

* * *

“Ready?” Rey asked, alert as ever while the _Falcon’s_ ramp descended.

“Definitely,” Ben said, “ _not.”_

The light from the outside began to seep its way through the growing crack in the door, illuminating part of their faces with the glimmering rays. Rey grabbed onto one of his hands, giving it a short grasp of reassurance to let him know she’d be right beside him, for whatever was waiting for them on the other side.

“You won’t be alone,” she whispered to him.

“I know,” he answered. He gave a brief, nervous glance her direction before they each felt the shudder of the ramp connecting with the landscape of the planet below.

Before either of them had managed even one step, Rose bounded into the ship in a hurry.

“Rey!” she said, spirited. “You made it back! You—you brought…” Her eyes began to catch up with her feet, and she realized the person accompanying Rey was not Finn or Poe, but the Supreme Leader of the First Order, who looked distinctly _un-_ Supreme Leadery. “You brought _Kylo Ren?_ You brought the Supreme Leader…of The First Order…to the Resistance base…not as a prisoner…” She continued on, processing this out loud as she noticed the lack of handcuffs or any sort of restraint at all.

Rey looked at Ben with approval and clued in Rose. “He just goes by Ben now.”

Rose’s mouth formed a silent “oh,” as she nodded in understanding. There had been one or two late nights on Ajan Kloss when Rey filled her in on everything that went on between them, and Rose always figured it was only a matter of time until he made the better choice. She gave Ben one of her typically warm smiles and said, “Well Ben, I’m glad you’re here with us. We can use all the help we can get.”

He could not help but glow at the use of his name, and such a welcoming greeting. Even at the highest chain of command in The First Order, no one had allowed him so much humanity. Was this the kind of love he missed, he wondered, during all those years of shutting out anyone that tried to reach him? He could never truly know the life he had not lived, but he could appreciate the new world that was opened to him now. It was as if every creature, rock, and tree that existed on Ajan Kloss beamed with the Light that Ben denied himself of for so long.

Rey and Ben began to make their way toward the insides of the base together when Rose stopped Rey with a tender tug at her elbow.

“Wait,” she said, her face solemn. “Rey, while you were gone, the General—Leia—she—”

“I know,” Rey said gently, sparing Rose the burden of breaking any more bad news. As they shared a moment of silence and grief, Ben realized what that meant, and he felt a pit forming in his stomach.

He looked between them, his eyes pleading. “Where is she?”

* * *

At the sight of Ben Solo, the few mourners that remained by the beside vigil for the General parted to leave her alone with her son.

Rey too offered him privacy.

“I’ll give you a moment,” she said, her voice low.

 _“_ No—stay,” he insisted. She turned back to him, having made way to leave. “Please.”

 _No need to make grief any lonelier,_ he figured.

In a sense, he was over-prepared for this day. For a moment the year before, he had thought his mother had died—he’d felt her life force fading because an attack that he himself had led. He should have known, however, that there was nothing that could really prepare him to see her after all these years, lifeless.

For a beat—perhaps several, perhaps even more than that—he simply stood before his mother, unmoving. Then, one step at a time, he walked over to where she laid peacefully. With the utmost care, he pulled back the sheet that rested over her body.

A lifetime of memories flooded him at the sight of her face.

 _The day he had first tried to pilot a speeder against his mother’s wishes, only to crash it. He’d watched his Dad fly enough ships that he figured he’d get the hang of it in no time. The entire painful walk back home, he thought she would be_ so _mad at him. And she was. Though even in her anger, she was loving._

_The moment she first showed him her lightsaber. Its blue glow was so bright he thought it might blind him. The power he felt when he held it in his hands would never leave him._

_When he got older, and there was the question of Luke and training, there was so much fighting. From where he was shut away in his room, he could hear his parents’ voices arguing, and even though he couldn’t make out all the words, he knew it was about him. No matter what he did, it was always causing someone trouble._

_Earlier that day, when he’d heard her voice as loud and clear as ever before, calling him back to the light with more love than he knew the galaxy had left for him…_

From her vantage point across the room, Rey could not see his face; she relied on his delicate movements to read him. She heard a sharp intake of breath as he saw his mother’s face, and then, like the waves that had crashed over them on Kef Bir, everything inside him rushed out.

Ben’s body hunched over, wracked with the unmistakable shaking of tears. She was hesitant to move any closer; to be there at all. In the midst of conflicting instincts, her compassion took over. At first, she just rested a hand on his back to let him know: _I’m here, and you’re not alone._ Then, it was as if Ben had taken her gesture as permission, and he let his body melt into hers.

To see someone who loomed so large reduced to a collapsed puddle of sorrow and tears devastated her. Her hands wove through his hair as he pressed himself against her further.

Through his tears, he muttered, “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Rey answered back, and they resumed their turmoiled silence.

Neither was sure how long they remained like that, nor did they care. They were together, that was all that mattered for now.

When Ben finally returned from the place inside himself he’d been in, he collected himself and rose to face his mother once again. He laid his hand over hers, grasping onto it like a lifeline.

“I’m sorry it had to be like this, Mom,” he gasped out. “I love you…”

His words seemed to be the key to unlocking something—for himself and for his mother. Before their eyes, Leia began to fade until there was no part of her remained at all. It was as if she was waiting to hear those words from her son so should could let go.

Rey was grateful to bear witness to this moment, to see the power of the love between a mother and her son.

It made her think back to what Ben had revealed to her not long ago about her own family— _Palpatine._ That was her apparent “family.” The former emperor was her only apparent living relative. Palpatine was the reason she grew up in the barren Jakku desert, fighting every day to live a life as free as she could. Palpatine was the reason she would never know the love in a mother’s hug or have the memories of a happy childhood. Palpatine was the reason that so many had lost so much in this war.

Rey remembered the final words Leia had spoken to her: _Never be afraid of who you are._

Rey wasn’t afraid of Palpatine, she decided.

She _hated_ him.

* * *

Eventually, the ongoing emotional reconciliations had to take a pause as preparations for battle began around them. The stakes of the war loomed closer than ever, as members of the Resistance gathered around their makeshift War room. A bit of uneasy tension remained at Ben’s presence from some people, but most were just grateful for anyone who wanted to join the cause.

“We’re going to need a strategy going in there,” Poe began. Beside him stood Finn and Jannah, a fellow former trooper who deserted. They were leaned in across the table, focused on Poe’s command.

“A _strategy…”_ Ben considered aloud, as if it were an unfamiliar concept.

“A strategy—a plan—yeah,” Poe said. “Did you guys not have those in the First Order?”

“None I ever stuck to,” he admitted casually.

At that, Finn snorted a quiet laugh to himself. _Typical Solo,_ he thought. It was uncomfortably bordering on charming, the way Ben reminded him so much of his father.

“Palpatine will be expecting you,” Rey said to Ben, “and me. The two of us should be able to get to him without any problems.” Attack strategy was far from Rey’s strong suit, but she was determined to make herself of use.

“He’s expecting you as a _prisoner_ ,” Ben clarified. “If we want to get to the throne without too much noise or bloodshed, we’ll need to keep up appearances.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Rey assured him playfully. “We’ve had a year of rehearsal.” They exchanged a knowing smirk that lingered just long enough to catch the attention of a few Resistance fighters.

“We’ll be able to track your ship to follow you, but we’ll be sure to give you both a head start,” Poe said.

“Then,” Finn cut in, “we can follow you in there for backup.”

“ _No._ ” Rey stopped him before he got any further. “You and Poe need to focus on doing whatever you can to destroy that fleet.” Her voice was commanding, her stare ungiving.

Poe turned to Finn. “She’s right. You know the First Order ships better than anyone, and we’ll need your help in the air.”

“Rey,” Finn argued passionately, “I don’t want you to face him alone.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t think her capable; it was only that no one knew the bounds of Palpatine’s power. Recently, Rey had been displayed more power and darkness than ever before. Finn trusted her, always. He just hoped that her strength would not falter in the presence of such evil.

“I won’t be alone,” she reminded him, “and I don’t think I could handle knowing my _best friend_ was running into danger after me. I need to be able to focus on _Palpatine_.”

“Okay,” Finn relented, “but if I see any signs of trouble, I’m going in there.”

Rey nodded her appreciation. “Thank you.”

“Alright,” Poe said. “Now that we got that settled, Rose—you hang back with Finn. You know the tech on those ships pretty damn well, and if you guys manage to get on one of those Destroyers, we’ll need you.”

Rose nodded eagerly, wanting to be the most useful to the Resistance as she could be. Her hand wandered to her necklace, and she clutched it, thinking of her sister’s sacrifice. _She gave up everything for this cause_ , Rose reminded herself. She would do whatever it takes to make sure Paige’s sacrifice was not in vain. Everyone deserved to wake up in a better galaxy tomorrow.

“I’ll be in the air,” Poe continued. “But we’ll need a hell of a lot more ships than we’ve got right now if we want a chance.” His tone changed, more sober than Rey had ever seen him. “This is going to be all of us or none of us today. If any part of this fails, everything will fall apart. But I believe in us—and Leia did too.”

The mention of her name was enough to send a hush of silence across the room.

“Whatever happens, may the Force will be with us,” he finished. “Always.”

His words lit up the faces of his friends. They all knew how proud General Organa would have been to see him take her place of leadership with such proficiency. Even Ben was moved to see so much of his mother’s spirit in his eyes; it was like he got a piece of her back.

With that bit of hope stuck in everyone’s hearts, final preparations began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe COVID-19 is just an exercise in making me a more productive writer.
> 
> Stay safe, enjoy this update, and as always I would love to hear your thoughts!
> 
> Edit: I also added some mood-setting graphics. Finally found a use for my amateur photoshop skills. :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “He might expect betrayal, but he won’t be expecting this—us.”
> 
> “Who would have?” She pointed out, in a final attempt at levity. The briefest delight in his eyes showed she had succeeded.

Amidst the chaos of battle arrangements, Rey stole a quiet moment for herself.

Today would be personal for everyone, she knew, but for her it was different. Along with the war that raged on between the First Order and the Resistance, there was a war being fought within her. For months, she had been plagued by visions of herself on the Dark Side, sitting alongside of, or in place of, the person who turned out to be her _grandfather_.

 _Person_ was, perhaps, liberal. From what Ben had told her, he seemed to be not quite man anymore—rather a ghoulish hybrid of technology, power, and hubris.

Just the thought of such a creature sent a shiver down her spine.

Rey knew that the Resistance and the Light Side was where she belonged, though that certainty did not stop her mind from wandering to different possibilities. For all she knew, she could be walking into a trap of Palpatine’s design, sealing her fate.

_The Dark Side is in your nature._

Kylo Ren had used those words in an attempt to pull her to the Dark. Surely, he would take that back now, but was he _wrong?_ Rey’s nature had helped bring Ben home, but it had also nearly killed Chewy.

It was in her darkest moments like this that she missed her fallen mentors the most. Surely, Leia would give her a piece of her infinite wisdom, or Han would have made her laugh, or Luke would have reminded her what’s important.

As if her thoughts signaled him, Luke’s voice began to echo through her head.

It was not a memory, nor a manifestation, but it rang clear and true.

_This story belongs to you now, Rey. Only you get to decide what happens next. Whatever that may be, the Force will be with you._

_Always._

He sounded confident and strengthened by the Force. In Rey’s most desperate hour, heroes of the old war had always come through. Today was her story—her fight. The thought was terrifying and empowering all the same.

Then, a tingle on her neck. _Back already, Skywalker?_

The sound of a throat clearing came from behind her; not the Skywalker she was looking for, but he would have to do.

“Ready?” Ben asked her gently, not wanting to interrupt anything.

“Yeah, I—yeah,” she said, back in the present. She followed him back toward the base, where their transportation awaited. The two of them would take an old imperial ship that the Resistance kept for the occasional recon mission here or there. It was imperfect and unpolished, but it would get the job done.

Waiting for them by the ship was a small crowd of Rey’s closest friends, gathered to send them off. The sight of them standing together made Rey misty, and she gave a grateful smile as she pulled them all into a hug. Finn, Poe, and Rose all held onto Rey as tight as she held onto them.

Even among all the tangled arms and bodies, Rey could tell it was Finn’s hand that was holding onto hers, so tight that she wondered if it would ever regain feeling.

She pulled back. “ _Hey_ ,” she tried to get his attention. “Don’t look so doom and gloom. Have a little faith in me, eh?”

Rey gave him a nudge to try to lighten his mood. He gave an unconvincing nod in return.

More upset than anyone was BB-8, who frantically beeped as Rey patted him goodbye. Then she looked to Poe, who seemed to be managing slightly better. “I’ll see you up there _,”_ Rey said as she gestured toward the sky.

“Yep—I’ll be the one in an X-wing.”

As Rey continued her own goodbyes, Finn turned to Ben, and offered out his hand. Ben eyed it for a beat in surprise and delight, then offered his own in turn. Their civil handshake was an ending and beginning for them all the same. Rey noticed the encouraging interaction as she peered over Rose’s shoulder, wrapped in another tight hug.

“Thank you.” Finn showed sincere gratitude.

“Thank _you,_ General,” came Ben’s response.

Finn, the newly minted general, beamed at that. From a storm trooper to a Resistance general. He could practically hear Han’s voice telling him _nice job, Kid._

Before Rey climbed into the ship, she managed a final goodbye to him. “I’ll see you later, _big deal.”_ His turn from confusion to embarrassment was last thing Rey saw before she took her place next to Ben.

Then, they began their treacherous journey toward Exegol.

* * *

“ _Rey.”_

Ben’s voice brought her back from her head, where once again she had trapped herself in a prison built of her fear. He sat beside her, piloting the ship through the Unknown Regions, where he’d made this trek once before.

“Hm?” She didn’t turn to look at him, just stared ahead at everything and nothing at all.

“I don’t know what it will take,” he began, “but I do know that killing Palpatine will not _defeat_ him.”

Rey knew what he was trying to do. She appreciated it. Still, she was not entirely welcoming to the idea of last-minute moral pondering.

“You’re right,” she said, eyes still glazed. “We’ll have to destroy him.”

Ben couldn’t see her expression, but she felt distant; her voice sounded unusually detached.

“Maybe.” He considered her. “ _Rey._ I can feel your pain; sense your anger. Whatever happens now, do not let that be what leads you. I’ve seen where that path ends, and it’s not a place you want to be.”

“He’s going to try to get inside my head.” The glow of the red stardust outside reflected in her eyes, as she finally turned to look at him.

“Yes,” he agreed plainly. Ben sat silent for a moment, thinking. “I’ve been in there too, and from what I’ve seen, he doesn’t stand a chance.” His voice had lifted, full of hope and trying to pass that onto Rey.

She gave the smallest smile a chance, before worry plastered itself on her face once again.

They had arrived.

Bright gasps of lightning struck through the sky, faintly illuminating the planet in bursts. Their TIE began to rattle in the atmosphere as they descended toward the surface below. Rey was not sure what she expected, but it was not this.

It was vast. Nearly empty, save for the towering cube-like shape that loomed along the horizon. It was massive, dwarfing their ship even from a distance. Plain enough and powerful enough to be the perfect hideout for an undead Sith lord. Though you wouldn’t have known such a leader lurked in the shadows of this planet, because there seemed to be no protection of it.

There were no other ships, no guns trained on them, no lasers to dodge, even no guards from what she could see. A sinking feeling rose in her. _This could be a trap._

When the ship gave its final breaths of power, Ben pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

 _Nice touch_ , she thought. Silently, she gave over her arms as he snapped the cuffs around her. Even after he clasped them shut, he did not let go of her. He took her hands in his, holding them tightly.

“Palpatine has been inside my head for 30 years. He may know me better than anyone; better even than I know myself,” he painfully admitted. “He might expect betrayal, but he won’t be expecting this— _us.”_

“Who would have?” She pointed out in a final attempt at levity. The briefest delight in his eyes showed she had succeeded.

* * *

Their march toward the throne felt familiar in all the wrong ways. She in restraints, again. Him leading them into hell, again. Every step into the bowels of the sinister layer got darker until they could make out little more than shadows.

In the dark, he whispered to her.

“ _Wait,_ ” he said, urgent. He pulled her closer to him, close enough that he could see the sprinkle of freckles across her face in the few glimmers of light that remained. He didn’t know how long they had left together—perhaps only moments, or perhaps an entire lifetime waited for them on the other side of this. All he knew was that he couldn’t waste another second.

“I already have a galaxy’s worth of regret,” he said. “So, I have to say this, and you just—you have to hear it.” He stumbled through those words, unsure of what was the right way and wrong way to do this. Then his voice rang quiet and clear: “ _I love you.”_

She answered him with a kiss.

There was no hesitation or uncertainty in it; just an unspoken promise. A promise that whatever they were meant to do, they would do it together. As they lingered on each other’s lips, they each realized how much time they’d wasted not being together—this was _so much better._

For a moment, they lived in a perfect world they’d built together, ignoring whatever happened and whatever was to come. After all of this, after everything it had taken to find each other, they deserved this. They deserved a moment.

Then, reality took over and they pulled apart, greeting each other with the galaxy’s brightest smiles. How they’d managed to deny themselves of this for so long, neither of them knew.

“That was better than I’d always imagined…” Rey confessed. In the year she’d known him, she’d dreamed of his threat and of his kiss. She’d never kissed anyone, really, but even then, she knew this was special. Their connection was more powerful than either of them knew, and the Force was crying out to tell them how _right_ this was.

Strengthened by their kiss, together, they walked into the arena where Palpatine waited.

The only suggestion of their connection was his hand, placed squarely in the small of her back. To anyone else it would have been nothing, but to Rey, the equal parts gentleness and firmness of his touch sent a clear message. It was an assurance, and a reminder: _together._

Soon, the sensation of his touch was replaced with a chill down her spine as she looked upon the ghastly image of Darth Sidious, waiting on his throne. The throne had spikes jutting out, as if it was a hand clasping around its seated prey. Its shadow reached further still, capturing Rey.

Ben’s description of Palpatine was true in image and spirit. From his back, emerged a mechanical arm that propped him up. From his body, tubes that supplemented—perhaps replaced—his veins. He looked so pale that it seemed he might fade away; it was almost as if he were a ghost.

Now uncuffed, Ben presented her like a prize. This next part, she would have to do alone.

Slowly, she approached the throne.

“I’ve been waiting for you, _my girl,_ ” came Palpatine’s revolting voice. The sound of her name in his decrepit mouth sickened her. Rey tried to hide a shudder as red guards surrounded both her and Ben.

“If you mean to kill me, know that killing me will not end this war,” she spoke in her most defiant voice.

Palpatine cackled, somehow amused by this. “ _Kill_ you? Oh no, my dear, I have brought you here to _save you.”_

Rey scoffed at such a suggestion. His mind was so twisted by evil, he thought murder could be a favor.

“For years, I’ve built an empire—for _you.”_

“For _him,”_ Rey corrected, feigning contempt. From behind, she could sense Ben growing nervous as he shifted at the mention of himself.

“ _Him?_ ” Palpatine laughed to Rey’s confusion. Ben had told her that Palpatine was offering him an empire as payment, and she figured he didn’t have an extra one laying around somewhere. “Oh, no. Kylo Ren is rather… _disposable_.” He lifted no more than a finger, but it was enough to signal something.

Behind her, Rey heard the unmistakable sound of Ben, crying out in pain.

She spun around to see a guard, retracting his weapon from where it had been thrust into Ben’s back. Shocked, he fell to his knees. Even through his pain, his eyes were pleading with her not to do what he knew she could not help.

Her anguish and anger took hold of her as she cried out his name.

“ _BEN!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Banging on JJ Abrams' door* IF YOU'RE GONNA MAKE REY A PALPATINE AT LEAST LET HER RECKON WITH THAT. 
> 
> Anyway.
> 
> I updated the chapter total from 5 to 6 because I have more words in me than I thought!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dark Side did not win by building people up, but by taking them down until they had nowhere else to turn but the wrong way.
> 
> This is what he did to Ben. Now, Palpatine was trying to start the cycle all over again.

In horror at what she had just seen, Rey was unable to stop herself from crying out his name—his _true_ name.

_Ben._

That one word had given Palpatine everything he needed. And she knew it.

As soon as it had happened, Rey wished she could undo it. She clamped a hand over her mouth, partly in shock, and partly as if it might take back her words. Her tear-stained eyes moved back and forth between Palpatine and Ben, who moaned on the ground in agony.

 _I can still feel him_ , she realized gratefully, _but he’s fading._

“What is _this?_ ” Palpatine’s voice crawled through the crevices of the room, with undue glee at his revelation. “A betrayal—is that what I am sensing?” Rey said nothing to this; she just hissed out a breath as the heat in her face rose with her anger. “It seems you are not the only one who traded loyalties…”

His words registered as a sinister threat, made true when from behind his throne, a group of masked men emerged. It was the Knights of Ren. They came between Rey and the throne, forming a human barrier between her and her grandfather.

“Perhaps, Rey, you should have come alone,” he warned. He gestured toward Ben, making an example of him. “Soon, the only person you will have left…is _me_.”

Palpatine lifted his arms toward the ceiling above them. Seemingly at his command, it began to spread apart, revealing an aerial battle. In the sky, a cascade of smoking X-Wings, falling weightlessly through the air. Rey’s heart sank to her stomach.

_The Resistance is losing._

Palpatine killed her parents, and now he was trying to destroy her friends. Everything he so much at looked at was ruined. Rey could not bear him for another second.

Rey thrust her hand out toward Ben—sending the hilt of her light saber flying through the air into her grasp. Igniting it, she turned to the line of men and weapons that awaited her and went ahead.

Thrashing through the crowd, Rey tore her blade through anything between her and Palpatine. Even the well-trained soldiers of the First Order seemed to be mere distractions to her; she easily dispatched them using her light saber and the Force.

To her, it felt like the ordeal lasted only seconds. From where Ben laid on the ground, it was like she was moving in slow motion. In a way, it was beautiful to watch her training and her raw strength in the Force coalesce into something so strikingly powerful. It was beautiful and it was terrible. She was playing right into Palpatine’s hand, and he knew it. Desperately, he wanted to stand up; to run to her and stop her from giving into her anger. Instead, diminishing strength left him writhing on the ground.

Rey suddenly found herself on the other side—of those men, of her carnage. Her path to Palpatine was a mere few steps, and she could destroy him without anyone to stop her.

Her saber was clenched tightly in her hand, its blue glow casting a cool haze onto the shadows that surrounded her. Its quiet hum echoed through the vast room, met only by the sound of Ben’s labored breathing behind her.

Her own breathing was heavy too; her anger overwhelming and unfocused. Rey looked to Palpatine, but she did not see her fear or anger reflected on his face.

“ _See?”_ he urged, gesturing to the bodies strewn around them. “This is who you are. The Dark Side is part of you—as am I. After all, I am your _family._ ”

The grin he displayed at that repulsed Rey so much she had to turn away. Taking in the path of destruction she’d left behind, she realized: _This is what he wants._

Palpatine did not just want to defeat her—he wanted her to defeat herself, to tear herself apart from the inside. The Dark Side did not win by building people up, but by taking them down until they had nowhere else to turn but the wrong way.

 _This is what he did to Ben._ Now, Palpatine was trying to start the cycle all over again.

In her hands, Rey loosened her grip on her saber as she felt the relief of clarity.

“No,” she spoke simply. “You’re not part of me. You’re not my family. I made those things for myself.”

The little girl who grew up on Jakku with no one to watch over her had raised herself. She had earned this life for herself; built her own destiny. Her family, the people who loved her, were the people who followed her into danger knowing it may cost them everything: her friends in the Resistance like Finn and Poe and Rose, and Ben.

“I wrote my own story,” she continued, denying him the satisfaction of a grimace or glare. “And you’re not part of it.”

At her declaration, Palpatine’s smile faded into tight scowl. “Fine,” he relented. “ _So be it.”_ His eyes, empty of all but hatred, flickered toward Ben.

Sensing what was about to happen, Rey focused her energy toward her legs and burst off the ground, leaping through the air to Ben. When she landed in front of him, she barely had enough time to get her saber up in front on her before lightning surged from Palpatine’s hands.

_Pain._

That was all she felt.

The closest she came to a thought was a semblance of gratitude, that at the very least, she had been able to shield Ben. Her saber managed to absorb some of the impact, but still, she was electrified. Every part of her body felt the jolt of the energy, and it seemed that fire had replaced the blood than ran through her veins.

As fast as it came, the feeling left her. For a moment, it looked to Rey like the world was crumbling around her. Then, as her head made contact with the ground, she realized it had been her who was falling.

The only thing remaining in her view was Ben—his eyes. In silent agony, the two of them held each other’s gaze, both wondering the same thing: _is this the end?_ With the little life and strength remained in her body, Rey inched her hand towards his. Ben met her with his own in the middle.

Each of them had faced death before, but it had never seemed so close. It felt like if either of them had let go, the other would slip under with them.

Rey looked to the sky above her, filled with ships and smoke demanding her attention. Gripping onto Ben’s hand as tightly as she could, she whispered.

_“Be with me.”_

Now more than ever, she needed the Force. She reached out to it and its allies, trying to tap into whatever reserves of strength they held. Though Ben remained quiet beside her, she could feel him reaching out too. Together, the two broken halves of a whole asked to be put back together again.

Then, in that horrid place, that lair of evil: a miracle.

Spirits of the Jedi, some of them new faces and some of them familiar friends, gathered to send their strength from the other side. She could hear their voices and seemed to make out some of their faces. Whether their phantom expressions were made from her imagination or actually there, she did not know. Perhaps it was neither; perhaps both.

They gathered around her and Ben, filling their bodies with their collective power, restoring life to them both. Rey could feel her surroundings beginning to seep back into her awareness, clearer than ever before. Just as clear—Leia’s voice, echoing through her.

“ _The Force is with you.”_

Rising to her feet and her destiny, Rey knew with one look that Ben had heard it too. He looked brighter, somehow even more sure of himself and beautiful than before.

Though they could not see it, the two of them were practically glowing, radiating with life and the Force. It was not just the power of the Jedi that flowed through them—it was the strength of their connection. The two that are one, finally united on the correct side at last, as the Force always willed it so.

The _rightness_ of it all was enough for even Palpatine to have to reckon with. He was shocked and repulsed in equal measure. For so long, he had waited for agents of the Force powerful enough to compare to himself. For even longer, he had plotted. When finally, the time came for him to act, he thought he had prepared for everything.

As a senator, as Emperor, and as a shadow, Palpatine had spent _lifetimes_ studying human folly—who else could say such a thing? He knew their infinite betrayal and backstabbing and was ready for it. What he did not understand, because he would never know it, was _love._

Rey and Ben’s love, their compassion, and their selflessness, were the factors in the equation that he did not predict.

Now, it would be his end.

Rage and revenge were all that remained for Palpatine. What was left of him was fueled by fury, and he would not waste it. Raising his hands once more, they lit up with electricity.

Ben and Rey exchanged a nod: _together._ Crossing their sabers in front of them, they managed to shield themselves from the lightning. But their defense did not just protect them—it started to tear Palpatine apart. Fruitlessly, he continued on.

Rey and Ben both cried out as the force pushed back at them became overwhelming. Within a moment, a burst of energy; they saw and knew nothing but light.

Then, it was over.

Like a flip of a switch, the source of the power stopped, throwing them both forward.

When Rey regained her vision, she saw the throne where Palpatine had once been. In his place was nothing but ashes—ashes that began to fall to the ground. Confused for a moment, Rey realized that the throne was beginning to crumble. 

With Palpatine’s final breaths, so too fell his empire. It was as if his decaying spirit was what had kept up the arena’s columns and statues.

Rey grasped onto Ben’s shoulder, taking a moment to steal his gaze. In the raining ruins, she cried out, “ _I love you!”_ A smile—perhaps his last—of relief crossed his face, and they embraced. Their faces were buried in each other’s shoulders, neither of them able to watch as the world around them fell apart. If this was the end, at least they would be together.

But the storm passed.

They heard as the rumbling began to quiet—at first slowing to a trickle, then to silence. The only sound was their breaths on each other’s necks.

Hesitantly, they pulled apart to take it all in.

“Is it over?” Ben whispered, hardly believing in such a thing.

Rey looked at the stillness around them. “I think so,” she answered.

Perhaps luck had spared them from a worse fate, or perhaps it was something else. Either way, they were overcome with gratitude and joy, underscored with a kiss. This time, it was in celebration. 

When their kiss ended, they stayed in each other’s arms, unwilling to let each other go. In her ear, Rey heard his soft voice ask, “Do you think we won?”

She looked up to the sky above them, where a tight formation of x-wings flew away from a falling star destroyer. Around them, ashes fell. They were made partly from the destroyer above them, partly from the ruins around them.

For the first time since either of them could remember: peace. Not only surrounding them but within them, their inner struggles replaced with balance.

“Yeah,” Rey beamed, “I think we did.”

As the ash came down around them, their bodies found a natural sway.

Among the decay, a sort of dance.

Among the destruction—a new love, and a new hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *banging on JJ Abrams' door once again* Rey can save the galaxy and get to be in love at the end!! These things do not have to be mutually exclusive.
> 
> Anyway.
> 
> I hope you guys are staying safe, and I hope you enjoy this update!


	6. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And then, the end.

The galaxy was newly at peace, but Ajan Kloss was filled with more excitement than Rey had ever known.

She and Ben had been prepared for some sort of celebration, but they could not have anticipated the number of smiling faces that greeted their return. Upon landing, friends and strangers welcomed them with equal excitement, and open arms. Among the spectrum of emotions, there was no surprise—Rey supposed that the galaxy staying mostly unexploded meant everyone figured they’d made it out okay.

Hand in hand, Rey pulled Ben along as she waded through the sea of people, trying to find her friends.

Peeking out from above the rest of the crowd, she spotted the unmistakable head of brown fur that belonged to Chewbacca. They rushed over to where he stood, surrounded by friends. At the sight of them, Rey beamed and embraced them.

Ben was standing back a respectful distance, unsure of his place, when Rose beckoned him over to join them. She had a way of making everyone and everything feel okay.

And for now, it was.

The celebrations ran into night. Even though that morning it had seemed everyone was on their last legs, there was unending energy for a galaxy-spanning party. All of them—Rey, Ben, Finn, Poe, and Rose—had heard their own versions of how the galaxy marked their victory over Palpatine the first time. Every planet and people had its own story of that night, but _nothing_ compared to living it.

People shared stories—of what they had lost, and what they had gained. There were endless embraces, breathless confessions of love, and a few passionate kisses to go around. Rey was pretty sure Finn and Poe thought she didn’t notice them sneaking off to the tree line a few times, but she figured they had all the time in the world to tell her about it all later.

When she finally decided to retire for the night, she wasn’t alone.

Ben wordlessly traced her steps back to her little room in the base, where a shared look between them was enough to decide how their night would end…

* * *

The next morning, and the next, and the next, and for many more, they woke up in each other’s arms, on their own time. For the first time since either of them could remember, it seemed the galaxy and the Force demanded nothing of them—as if their very togetherness ensured some sort of lasting peace.

Eventually, one by one, people left to return to their homes or make one for themselves. There was a vacuum of power that needed to be filled, and some of the political-minded fighters got to work piecing governmental infrastructure back together. Others got to rebuilding the cities that fell. A few particular former troopers got to repairing the broken homes of stolen children of the First Order.

For Rey and Ben, their future seemed equal parts certain and in question. Around the galaxy, they both felt the Force blossoming in the next generation—full of people just as lost as they once were. Scattered and hidden in every corner on countless planets, it would take years to help everyone that needed it. Neither Rey nor Ben knew what would come next, or where they would go. They just knew it would be together.

Not for the first time, they sat in the Falcon without a plan; just a purpose.

From the passenger’s seat, Ben spoke.

 _"_ Where to first, _Scavenger_?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah. Did I really just finish a multi-chapter fanfic? Somebody pinch me.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who followed along and encouraged me with this story! Fanfiction is a very new hobby for me but I'm quite enjoying it, and have a couple of ideas I'm thinking over for other stories. 
> 
> May the Force be with you all :)


End file.
